Are you at risk of developing SIS?

Are you at risk of developing SIS?

Posted By
Eliot Reiner

As some of our more regular readers know, we are not strangers to the topic
of brain injuries. In fact, we've written dozens of posts on the subject,
talking with our readers about everything from the situations in which
a brain injury may be suffered to the effects a brain injury can have
on an individual over the course of their life. In one particular post
written last December, we even touched on the seriousness of suffering
multiple concussions over the course of a lifetime.

Those who read our post may remember a brief mentioning of a condition
referred to as second impact syndrome. At the time of writing the post,
we did not have time to delve into what this condition is or in what situations
it occurs. That's why in today's post, we'd like to take a
closer look at second impact syndrome.

The term was first used in 1984 by Saunders and Harbaugh to describe the
"diffuse cerebral swelling" and "brain herniation"
that occurs after suffering a second head trauma too soon after suffering
the first. In some cases, patients with second impact syndrome, or SIS,
died as a result of the secondary head trauma.

Though recognized by some in the medical field as a real condition, SIS
is still considered a controversial condition because its occurrence,
particularly among American football players, has not received any outstanding
support from the international community where occurrences of SIS have
not been similarly reported.

Even though those in the medical community are still arguing over the frequency
of SIS occurrences, any head trauma should be taken very seriously, regardless
of whether it's your first or second. As was so aptly pointed out in one
medical journal publication, the brain is the only organ in the body that doesn't regenerate and
can't be replaced, meaning any damage suffered is damage a person
has to live with for the rest of their life. It's for this and many
other reasons that head injuries need to be addressed quickly and appropriately
to mitigate lifetime damage for a patient.